Look who came to Cologne today!!!

Kieran's First Day of Kindergarten

Kieran started kindergarten today, he was excited and ready to go, but not nervous.  Riding the bus for over a year and spending over a month this summer attending kindergarten camp really helped him get over those routines that get people nervous.

This first picture, Kieran's laughing, but he doesn't know that Luke has just been told he's not going to have to deal with Kieran all day long.  Can you tell Luke's excited?  Lex, well....keep the bottles coming and she's happy.

Another picture shows Kieran puffing his chest out saying that the day is all his and he should milk things a bit.  Luke's thought in the background is - 'really, you haven't left yet?  Let's get this day going.'

Kieran's approaching the bus, yeah, that's it in the background.  I think he feels he's had too many pictures taken of him getting on or off the bus.

The day went well, with prodding, he was able to talk all about the day.  This included things beyond the bus and lunch/recess.  He spent quite a while talking about PE and music.  He was especially talkative about the boy who received a yellow light.  They use the green, yellow and red lights for behavior.  Stay on green and you get a sticker.  Move to yellow and it's a warning.  Get a red and a note goes home.  Kieran is already aware that when the red letter comes home, we'll be having a little chat.

Luke's 3rd Birthday

Sunday was Luke's 3rd Birthday, filled with dinosaurs, Buzz Lightyear and a canoe ride.  If you look at all the pictures, in one of them, he's either 'Super Luke' or a 'sneaky bandit'...we'll see later how it turns out.

It's Football Time...

It's that time of the year again - no, not time for school, but football.....Kieran and I went to his second Vikings game last Saturday (they lost 23-17, I think....hey, it's pre-season and we only stayed for a little over a half) and both boys took me to Howard Lake to watch Central play.  Central won 28-12, starting the year off great.  The next game we'll go to is Central vs. Belle Plaine in Belle Plaine next Friday.

Yes....school also starts soon, Kieran is very excited for Kindegarten.  We had open house a few days ago and he really likes his teacher at this point, Mrs. Ruberg.

Northern Minnesota trip

The boys and I left last Saturday and headed to the Iron Range, with no real plan on where we would be staying (that got us into some trouble later, but that's a story for another time).  These first three pictures are from the Mineview in the Sky in Virginia which overlooks the now water-filled Rouchleau mine.  The overlook sits upon the waste rock dump from the earlier mine.  It was here that the boys began to realize just how big some trucks could be.

The next two pictures are from the Hull Rust Mine in Hibbing, which is one of the largest open pit mines in the world.  The boys were both given samples of taconite pellets, allowing them to see what exactly I was talking about.  They were also able to get into the largest truck they've ever seen.  Both boys enjoyed watching the trucks in the mine get filled by various sized loaders.

Our last stop on the Iron Range was in Gilbert and this stop was for me.  It was at an outcrop of pillowed greenstone.  Greenstone is a weakly metamorphosed basalt, pillows form when basalt erupts directly into seawater.  You also find numerous glacial striations, scratches in the greenstone from rocks imbedded in passing glaciers.  Following the striations allows you to see the direction the glacier was moving.  One small location on the outcrop you can see a small portion of the Biwabik Iron Formation that the glaciers did not remove.  The Biwabik sits right on top of the greenstone but is 800 million years younger than the greenstone.

The last four pictures are taken in Duluth.  Luke in Canal Park.  Luke eating Lex's dinner.  And two taken at the beach at Park Point. 

Lex's First Birthday

Alexandra's (Lexy, Lex) first birthday was Friday, July 22.  She's a little peanut, but getting better at imposing her will on her two older brothers....

Kindergarten Camp

Camp started on Monday, it's four days a week for four weeks.  Goal is to give kids a chance to do a little preparation for kindergarten while getting used to new faces, a new school and new rountines (specifically the lunch routine).  Honestly, it's a great deal and in the best interest of kids.  The bus picks Kieran up at 8:00 and returns him at about 1:30, meaning it's pretty quiet at home for the morning, nice.  He likes to talk about the bus ride, playtime outside or lunch, it takes some prompting to get him to say what they are working on in class.

Town Team Baseball

Kieran's been wanting to see a baseball game where Craig is pitching since the last game we went to he didn't play.  So things finally worked out last Friday night, up until then there were always excuses ---- taking naps, too hot, too cold, out of town, he's not going to play, etc.
When we got to the game, the man taking admissions took one look at us and told Kieran he was going to charge his daddy $4, but because Kieran looked like a nice boy, he'd be able to get in free.  Kieran was really excited about getting a deal and being special, of course he couldn't read the sign that said:  "Adults $4, Students Free".  I think he ate about $4 worth of popcorn anyway so everything evened out.
On the way home, Kieran said "now we like four teams, the Vikings, Central, Cologne baseball and the Hamburg Hawks, we still don't like the Packers though".

FYI:  In the pictures, Craig's the pitcher....he doesn't look that tall from this distance or with a cell phone camera....

Camping on the North Shore

The annual camping trip on the North Shore for myself, Kieran, Luke & Papa just ended (though a day earlier than planned because of the government shutdown closing the state parks).  It was Luke's first time ever sleeping in a tent and he did fine.  Lot's of good times and great sites seen, of course losing the van's alternator five miles from the Canadian border was fun - trust us, there's not a whole lot available up there, except one very generous man........